You Found Me
by Chaos Ride
Summary: This had to be dream, she couldn't really be here. Songfic to You Found Me by the Fray. Please review!


_I found God  
On the corner of First and Amistad  
Where the west  
Was all but won  
All alone  
Smoking his last cigarette  
I said, "Where you been?"  
He said, "Ask anything"._

She couldn't be here. This had to be a dream.

New York was bustling around Nudge, and no one even glanced in her direction. The dark skinned teen could only gape for a moment, amazed at her being here.

"Nice to see you again, Nudge." The voice was familiar, yet held more wisdom than it had last time had heard it.

_Where were you  
When everything was falling apart?  
All my days  
Were spent by the telephone  
That never rang  
And all I needed was a call  
That never came  
To the corner of First and Amistad_

She wanted to scream at him, shout that he wasn't needed anymore. Jeb looked saddened, as though he could hear her thoughts. He was leaning against a light pole. His hair was grayer, and the lines in his face more deep set.

"Where have you been?" It wasn't the question she wanted to ask, but regardless, it flew from her mouth before she could stop it.

_Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me_

"I'm here to show you something." Her anger flared at how easily the man had side stepped her question, but it died down as he stepped towards her, hand raising to rest on her arm.

The scenery shifted, melting away from the familiar New York to a forest. All the trees were a lush green, signaling it was summer, cementing Nudge's theory that this was all a dream. When she had crawled into bed ad cried herself to sleep, it had been midwinter.

_In the end  
Everyone ends up alone  
Losing her  
The only one who's ever known  
Who I am  
Who I'm not, who I wanna be  
No way to know  
How long she will be next to me_

Sobbing came from deep in the trees, and Jeb casually navigated his way towards the noise, eyes sad.

Nudge was shocked to find it was Max, curled in a ball of skinny limbs, dirty blonde hair, and feathers. Her sobs were bitter, and quiet. Her knuckles were bleeding, signaling she had punched a tree or something of the like.

"She comes out here a lot. She can't stand to cry in front of you guys. Maximum is pushing herself too hard to be strong." Jeb's voice held more remorse than the girl expected as he observed his daughter, on the dirt floor before him.

_Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me_

"Why are you showing me this?" She wanted to sound cold, like Max when faced with enemies. Maybe, she realized, she would never be that strong.

"And it's become worse of a habit since Fang left."

Well, of course, Nudge rationalized, Max and Fang were each other's support system, and they loved each other. There was never such a thing as Max without Fang or vice versa. It was only natural to always see them together.

And now, the whole idea of them apart was so wrong. She wanted to blame Fang, but she couldn't. She could only hope he was as miserable as Max had been.

_Early morning  
The city breaks  
I've been callin'  
For years and years and years and years  
And you never left me no messages  
Ya never send me no letters  
You got some kinda nerve  
Taking all I want_

She received no warning as the world was shifting again, this time turning the green of the forest into the tans and browns of the desert, the heat of summer cooling slightly to the frigidness of winter nights.

Fang was huddled before them, teeth chattering harshly as his pale fingers clenched the thin material of his jacket.

Silent tear tracks cascaded down his face as his slightly blue lips formed the word 'Max' over and over and over, like a mantra or a prayer that would somehow save him from the fate he had sentenced himself to.

"He has his own mission he wants to fulfill. He wants this to end so you can all live in peace without having to worry about Erasers or the world ending."

Her small fists, the ones she had to use like no other child her age had really had to, curled in on themselves. She wanted to bash his head in. Why didn't the two oldest understand? They didn't have to do this alone.

_Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me  
Why'd you have to wait?  
To find me, to find me_

And then, there was nothingness. Empty space surrounded her and her ex-caretaker.

"They need you to act as a family. They just don't know it yet."

His hands were warm, resting securely on her shoulders, as he gazed at her. Nudge wanted to cry, to scream that they all needed each other, and to drag Fang home and make him realize that he couldn't do this all on his own. But most of all, she wanted for everything to just go away, to just leave them all alone.

It was a fatherly gesture Jeb had given each of them at least a million times, when he was still taking care of them six years ago, but it had the same effect that it had always had on the middle child. His dry lips pressed to her forehead, in a comforting gesture, and Nudge was resorted to crying infant, sniffling every now and again.

And she was crying when she awoke to Gazzy's worried face. She didn't have time to explain her dream, though. She knew they had work to do, and things to fix.

It was up to them. Together.

* * *

**Song: You Found Me by The Fray, which I don't own.**

**Please review!**


End file.
